Predicting the Future

 

Several things have happened lately to remind me how hard it is to predict the future.

I recently watched a 2013 rerun of Shark Tank where an entrepreneur pitched a cell phone app that interacted with bar codes and QR codes. Mark Cuban passed on it partly because, as he put it, “QR codes are on their way out.” Fast forward nine years, and he was so wrong.

This past September I received an assignment to write the February 2025 devotions for a devotional magazine called Portals of Prayer. Yes, you read the date correctly. I submitted an outline earlier this year, and the devotions themselves are due in January 2023—two years before they will be published. Scripture doesn’t change and a good devotion should be timeless, so that part is okay.

Unfortunately, writers are not as timeless. I was asked to submit a short biography with the devotions, and who knows how much will change before the publication date. I could even be dead by then. So I assume they ask for an update shortly before the devotions are published.

Knowing how far in advance the devotions are normally assigned, I was surprised in July to notice references to COVID-19 and its aftermath. My best guess is that the person who was originally assigned those devotions didn’t meet his or her deadline for some reason so the publishers had to look elsewhere—either by making a rush assignment or by moving up devotions that had already been submitted. Regardless, it appears that something happened that the publishers hadn’t predicted.

In this world, there is very little we can count on. Even death and taxes have their uncertainties.

But one thing is predictable. This world will end and then the judgment. Those who know God will go to heaven, and everyone else will go to hell.

I’m glad I’ll be in the first group.

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The image at the top of this post is Michelangelo’s “The Last Judgment.”  I took the photo on a 2018 trip to Rome. The original is in the Sistine Chapel, and no photography is allowed inside. I didn’t have to violate the rules to get this picture, however. The Vatican had placed a reproduction in the courtyard for visitors to photograph, instead.

Rome: Appreciating Art

Like Florence, Rome is a city filled with art. Actually, some of it is in the Vatican, which isn’t technically part of Rome. But in both cases, much of it is Michelangelo’s work.

The first picture is Michelangelo’s “Pietà” located in St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get a good photo that didn’t include that line. The crowds kept me from finding a better angle, but the biggest problem was that the statue is protected by a glass box. That’s because it was vandalized in 1972, when someone attacked it with a hammer and broke off Mary’s left arm and hand. “Pietà” has since been restored, but it is still a reminder that not everyone values good art. And that’s a shame.

Vatican City also contains some of Michelangelo’s paintings, with the most famous ones being in the Sistine Chapel. I’m not going to talk about the “Creation of Adam” or any of the other frescoes on the ceiling because I think “Last Judgment,” which is on the wall behind the altar, is more interesting.

Photos were not allowed in the Sistine Chapel. Talking wasn’t, either, so the tour guide couldn’t explain anything while we were inside. The Vatican must understand the importance of tour groups, however, because the plaza had a number of identical stations with photos from the Chapel that helped guides explain the art to their groups.

Study the next photo carefully, and look especially at the naked man in the lower right-hand corner with the snake around his body. Then I’ll tell you what our guide told us.

Actually, most of the bodies are naked, and that caused a problem. Michelangelo felt that we should celebrate the bodies God gave us, but not everyone agreed. Biagio da Cesena, who was Pope Paul III’s Papal Master of Ceremonies, made scathing remarks about the painting. Michelangelo got his revenge by painting da Cesena in hell with a snake around his body. When da Cesena saw it, he complained to Pope Paul III, who said that Hell was out of his jurisdiction and the painting would remain as it was.

Michelangelo also sculpted elaborate pieces for grave markers. His “Moses” (shown below) was commissioned by Pope Julius II for his tomb. The tomb was never built, and Moses and some surrounding sculptures (not by Michelangelo) now reside in the San Pietro in Vincoli (St. Peter-in-Chains) church in Rome proper.

Most Romans couldn’t afford such elaborate art to mark their graves, however. The catacombs, which were Christian underground cemeteries, not hiding places, are filled with grave markers like the one below that used simple religious symbols. But whether elaborate or simple, art should be appreciated, not vandalized.

This is the last post about my trip to Italy. We went many other places and saw many other sites while we were there, but I just can’t cover it all.

Next week I’ll return to a subject more directly related to writing.

Florence

Our next major stop was in Florence, where we spent three nights at the Hotel California. Don’t stay there. (The hotel, that is. Florence is a must see.)

Florence is the birthplace of two famous writers. The first is Carlo Lorenzini (pen name Carlo Collodi), who wrote The Adventures of Pinocchio in the early 1880s. Pinnochio dolls and puppets and souveniers are everywhere throughout the city. I didn’t take any pictures of them, and I regret that now. The drawing at the top of this page came from the Internet and is by Carlo Chiostri, who illustrated the 1901 edition.*

Centuries earlier another famous writer was born in Florence. Dante Alighieri (author of The Divine Comedy) was born sometime around 1265, although his exact birthdate is unknown. He had a very checkered history in his home town and was eventually exiled for alleged corruption. That’s his birthplace in the second picture.

In those days, only the privileged few could read. This was still the case when the Renaissance began. Most people learned history and Bible stories through oral tradition or art, such as the Bible stories cast in metal on the door to the Florence Baptistry (the building where people were baptized). The picture shows only the top half, and even it is a reproduction of the original, which is in safekeeping in the Duomo (cathedral) museum.

Then there is Michelangelo, born in Florence in 1475. His famous statue of David used to stand at the entrance of the Palazzo Vecchio but was replaced by a copy to protect it from vandals. We saw the copy, but we also saw the original in its current home at the Galleria dell ’Accademia. That’s the original in the photo.

For us, Florence was mostly a place to view art. We spent our free day in the Accademia and the larger Uffizi Gallery. At the Uffizi we saw many paintings by Botticelli as well as a few works by Leonardo Da Vinci, Raphael, and Michelangelo. Then we went out for a nice dinner.

It was a great way to spend our 39^th wedding anniversary.

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* Chiostri’s drawings are in the public domain because of their age.